This article was published in the July 2019 edition of P&Q Business magazine. Jurgensen Companies is playing a pivotal role in MAC Tech’s culmination. This post is an excerpt from the original, which you can find on Pit & Quarry’s website here.
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Developing a workforce for the future is a daunting task.
It’s a challenge that’s top-of-mind for aggregate producers and equipment manufacturers alike who’ve been searching for solutions for years. In Ohio, a special program aimed at overcoming workforce challenges is nearing reality.
MACC Tech — or Mining, Asphalt, Concrete & Construction (MACC) Technology, as it’s otherwise called — is a program designed to expose junior and senior high school students to a career technology path that ultimately leads to opportunities associated with the aggregate, asphalt, concrete and construction industries.
MACC Tech is a two-year program designed to provide students with basic knowledge of aggregate production, asphalt and concrete production, and construction equipment and techniques.
Aggregate industry professionals — the people who know these topics best — will be the educators.
Networking is another key component of MACC Tech, which can sell the industry for employers in need of skilled people. Introducing students to industry professionals is a key to generate interest in crushed stone, sand, and gravel job opportunities with up-and-comers.
The ultimate goal of the program is to arm students with the skills necessary to be immediately hired and have the knowledge to be productive on Day One. Prior exposure to the aggregate industry is an attractive quality for producers looking to replenish their employee ranks.
Additionally, the MACC Tech program will shed a new and largely unknown light onto the aggregate industry for the average person. The industry also must do a better job telling its story.
Producers must tell their stories to their communities through the mediums most popular among local youth. Engaging the community on social media, for example, can help producers reach younger audiences on a familiar platform long before they decide on a career.
The MACC Tech application was submitted to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) at the end of 2018.
MACC Tech was recently approved and is currently in the stages of planning.